Tens of thousands of Calgarians are likely to see a new piece of public art at one of the busiest stretches of road in the northwest, now that the Gateway to Nature mural is complete.

The work by local artist and graphic designer Cam Hoff, was created as a way to represent the way that Nose Creek, and the Nose Creek Valley, intertwines with the lives of residents in surrounding communities.

“I’ve lived here in Country Hills for 18 years, and I really took for granted these natural areas we have here. So, I really want people to take away an appreciation for these natural areas we have in our backyard,” said Hoff.

“You can see, there’s some development going on here now, and it’s a little bittersweet to be unveiling this mural while this natural area starts to be developed, right here in our backyard.”

The mural was funded by a micro-grant from Calgary Arts Development and took a year of work between the Nose Creek Preservation Society and the City of Calgary to get approval to paint on a largely forgotten stretch of sound fencing along the corner of Country Hills Blvd and Coventry Blvd NE.

Passing motorists will likely notice that crumbling beige stucco has been replaced with a vibrant, and in places a neon, representation of the creek along with the plants and animals that live there.

“That more comes from me and my artistic style and background. It’s a little more bold and graphic [design] than some of the other murals you see around here,” said Hoff.

Turning wall of grime into a paradigm of natural beauty

He said that the location made it an attractive one to paint, and was one of the few locations in his community that could accommodate a mural.

“One of the criteria of the Calgary Arts Development community micro grant, and one of the criteria they had for the grant was communities lacked public art, and Coventry Hills was one of the communities on the list,” Hoff said.

“A really big part of the concept here is to raise awareness for preserving the Nose Creek Valley here, and awareness of the Nose Creek Preservation Society and the work that they’re doing to that end.”

Andrew Yule, President of the Nose Creek Preservation Society, said that the mural was another way for the group to speak for Nose Creek.

“It’s the gateway to nature. It’s directing people to the nose Creek Valley so that more people can appreciate what we have here in our backyard.”

He said that the timing of the mural also leads naturally into the work the group is doing to promote Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian’s October council motion to explore the feasibility of turning the valley into a regional park.

“It’s like a billboard to get more people’s attention, but the work needs to be done at Council this October, making sure that we have unanimous support for Coun. Mian’s notice of motion, because we do need a strategy for the nose Creek Valley,” Yule said.

He said that the mural also represents something tangible, and physical, that visitors can see about the work that the society has been doing.

“We’re pretty proud of it, and we do hope it gets more eyes on the creek and more notoriety for a really cool ecosystem that we have in our backyard,” Yule said.